Tuesday, August 25, 2009

My Green Dream

I have a dream... that everyone will eat five servings of vegetables per day, not counting potatoes, ketchup, or corn. Fresh fruits are great to, but lets face it, most people fail to eat enough of the greens (and the oranges, reds, purples, and yellows). Perhaps it's because most "fast-food" whether from home or Burger World is majorly deficient in plant-foods. Have you ever noticed how bleached your kid's diet is? Where does the bulk of Johnny's calories come from? White flour? Fruit juice? Cheese sticks? Milk? Don't get me wrong, some of these foods might be OK, but where is the color? Where is the fiber? Where are all the phytochemicals, vitamins and minerals?

When you look at your plate as you go to eat dinner, you should see a rainbow. Or at least more than two colors. Most dinners in America are "black and white," or perhaps "brownish and off-white or yellow." When it comes to plants, color is the Creator's "highlighter" to say, "eat this." Green means chlorophyll, pre-vitamin A, magnesium, protein, folate and other blood and bone building materials. Red, orange, yellow, blue, and purple means carotenoids, flavonoids, vitamin C, and many other cancer-preventing, cell-protecting compounds.

So what to do? So many colors, so little time. I have long taken some of my red, blue and greens as powders. This makes getting the five servings per day a snap. I scoop some Best of Greens, along with some Bio Fruit into a little water and juice, shake, and I'm on my way. This is a small price to pay to prevent cancer, heart disease, and arthritis. Green food or Superfood powders are the rage. Health food stores have an increasing number lining the shelves. Or I'm sure you've been confronted by an overly excited "Moma Via" or "Juice Less" distributor (..."testomonials, testomonials! ...here, drink the Kool-aid; it will make all your wildest dreams come true!"). These products may be just fine, but I've found them to often be overpriced and oversold. You don't need to get your superfoods out of a wine bottle, but if you can't get your day's salad, broccoli, and berries you need to take some no-nonsense food powders as part of your breakfast or lunch routine.

By nonsense I mean all the fillers that most expensive superfood powders contain. These include rice bran, lecithin, and perhaps other fiber like psyllium. There's nothing wrong with these ingredients except they are quite inexpensive and when you read the fine print on the nutrition label you'll discover that more than half of your "green powder" is actually "brown powder." This is one of the reasons I've been using Best of Greens from Purium Health Products for almost 10 years. It's simple, pure, and contains the most powerful greens derived from high quality sources. They also make Bio Fruit, which is a conglomerate of the best flavonoid-rich fruits, without too much sugar.

I also don't recommend the so-called "Nano-" supplements, such as NanoGreens. We really don't know enough about the these nano-foods and how they might influence our biochemistry. With increasing rates of allergies and food intolerance, we should get nutrition the old fashion way, normal digestion and absorption.

So get yourself to the Farmer's Market every week for all your fresh fruits and vegetables, and if you just can't get the five-a-day, keep some "instant color" on hand with superfood powders. Your cells will thank you.

What I do... simply put

“Much of today’s medical care simply doles out drugs or invasive procedures to pacify symptoms, ignoring the self-healing power of the body. My goal is to find the underlying causes of illnesses and apply the most effective treatments accordingly. You use the least force necessary to bring about healing.”

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Dr. Graves, a different kind of doctor

Have you had this experience? You go to the doctor for some problem. After a wait in the waiting room and then another wait in a cold exam room, the doctor comes in and chats with you for a few minutes, maybe he or she examines you quickly, then gives you a scribbled prescription. You leave still not quite sure what’s wrong with you. Or, you may even think you have a better sense of what’s going on with you than your doctor. You might be right.

I don’t pretend to know it all, but what I can guarantee you is my undivided attention, to treat you or your child like I would my own family. Together we can explore what is really at the root of your health challenges. Using a detailed approach and the principles of naturopathic medicine I will help you find healing.